Sabah

Beautiful Land Below the Wind

Sabah is fondly known as “Land Below The Wind” It is blessed with excellent natural wonders with islands, beaches, coral reefs, rivers, wetlands, forests and mountains with outstanding biodiversity. Here, you can find the world largest flowerthe – the Rafflesia, the highest mountains is South East Asia – Mount Kinabalu and one of the world’s top dive sites – Sipadan Island!

There are currently 32 officially recognized ethnic groups in Sabah with the largest non-indigenous ethnic group being the Chinese and the largest indigenous group being the Kadazan-Dusun people. Two other larger ethnic groups in Sabah are the Bajau and Murut, compared to other states in the country; Sabah has relatively very small population of Indians. Despite such diverse racial, traditions, customs and culture, all these people live harmoniously here.

Places of interest in Sabah:Poring Hot Springs, Kinabalu Park
The Hot Spring (140km from Kota Kinabalu) is reputed to have therapeutic qualities that could heal minor ailments. The water contains sulphuric minerals and a bath is favoured by those who has just returned from Mount Kinabalu climb as well as the locals. There is a canopy walkway of about 160 meter long ,passes 100 to 200 feet over the lowland forest. Visitors can appreciate the wildlife and the tropical rain forest from the canopy. there are also other interesting areas in the park to be visited such as the butterfly farm, the Poring Orchid Conservation Centre, the tropical garden, and the Rafflesia flower site.

Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary, Sandakan
The Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre is about 25km north of Sandakan. Set up in 1964 to rehabilitate orphaned baby orang utan. Set in the lush 4,300-hectare Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve, the Centre attracts tourists and researchers alike, giving them the opportunity to watch the orang utan up close in their natural habitat. A boardwalk leads you to a viewing gallery and feeding platform where the apes are fed milk and bananas twice a day at 10.00am and 3.00pm by rangers. Feeding time also attracts long-tailed macaques to the area.

Sipadan Island, Semporna
Ranked top 5 diving locations in the world, Sipadan Island has lured underwater enthusiasts for years. It is Malaysia’s only oceanic island, formed by living corals growing on top of a volcanic cone. Hammerhead sharks, massive barracuda and parrot fish schools, turtles, undersea caves and a reef wall reaching down to 600 metres simply make this a diver’s haven.